Mechanize
Encyclopedia
Mechanize is the seventh studio album by Fear Factory
. It is the first album to feature Gene Hoglan
on drums and the first since 2001's Digimortal to include original guitar
ist and founding member Dino Cazares
who rejoined the band after a reconciliation with vocalist Burton C. Bell
in April 2009. The album was produced by Rhys Fulber
, who had not produced a Fear Factory album since Digimortal. This is also the first Fear Factory album to feature an 8-string guitar. In its first week of release the album sold 10,000 copies.
and ex-guitarist Dino Cazares
announced the reconciliation of their friendship, and the formation of a new project with Fear Factory bassist Byron Stroud
and drummer Gene Hoglan
of Strapping Young Lad
. On April 28, this project was revealed to be a new version of Fear Factory that effectively excluded former members Raymond Herrera
and Christian Olde Wolbers
. Asked about the circumstances of their exclusion, Bell stated that "[Fear Factory]'s like a business and I'm just reorganizing... We won't talk about [their exclusion]."
In June 2009, Wolbers and Herrera finally spoke about the issue on the radio program "Speed Freaks." Herrera revealed that technically, he and Wolbers had not left the band: "[Christian and I] are actually still in Fear Factory...[Burton and Dino] decided to start a new band, and furthermore, they decided to call it Fear Factory. They never communicated with us about it,". Herrera went on to say that the original four members (Bell, Cazares, Wolbers, and himself) are contractually regarded as Fear Factory Incorporated, and said "it's almost like them two against us two, so it's kind of a stalemate." He also stated that he and Wolbers had written eight songs for the next Fear Factory record, but that a "personal disagreement" had come up between them and Bell, which left Bell unwilling to continue work with the band.
Despite issues between the two parties, Fear Factory moved ahead with the recording process. In late July 2009, a short video shot with a cell phone showed Dino recording over drum tracks with long time contributor Rhys Fulber. According to recent interviews with Bell and Cazares, at least one show in South America has been announced. On November 9, 2009, album artwork for the album was revealed on blabbermouth.net
.
On February 2, 2010, the official music video
for the song "Fear Campaign," was released. The song serves as the album's first formal single. The song also includes a standard guitar solo
passage, something highly uncharacteristic of Fear Factory's usual standard.
The song "Final Exit
" is a title borrowed from Derek Humphry
's 1991 book of the same name, which deals with the topic of self-chosen euthanasia.
The bonus track "Crash Test" is a re-recorded version from their 1992 debut album Soul of a New Machine
. The band also re-recorded versions of "Martyr" (also from Soul of a New Machine), which is found on the Japanese edition of the album and "Sangre de Niños", which has yet to be released.
Fear Factory
Fear Factory is an American industrial metal band. Formed in 1989, they have released seven full-length albums and a number of singles and remixes. Over the course of their career they have evolved from a succession of styles, as well as steadily pioneered a combination of the styles death metal,...
. It is the first album to feature Gene Hoglan
Gene Hoglan
Eugene "Gene" Victor Hoglan II is an American drummer. He is acclaimed for his creativity in drum arrangements, including usage of odd devices for percussion effects and his trademark lengthy double-kick drum rhythms...
on drums and the first since 2001's Digimortal to include original guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist and founding member Dino Cazares
Dino Cazares
Dino Cazares, born in El Centro, California, is a Mexican-American musician and the guitarist for Los Angeles-based industrial metal group Fear Factory. He also plays in the metal bands Divine Heresy and Asesino.-Biography:...
who rejoined the band after a reconciliation with vocalist Burton C. Bell
Burton C. Bell
Burton Christopher Bell is an American musician. Bell is best known as the frontman of the metal band Fear Factory where he is the only consistent member. His singing style mixes clean vocals with death growls.-Fear Factory:...
in April 2009. The album was produced by Rhys Fulber
Rhys Fulber
Nowell Rhys Fulber is a Canadian electronic musician and producer. He was a member of Front Line Assembly and Delerium along with Bill Leeb, and now records on his own under the name Conjure One.- Biography :...
, who had not produced a Fear Factory album since Digimortal. This is also the first Fear Factory album to feature an 8-string guitar. In its first week of release the album sold 10,000 copies.
Background
On April 7, 2009, vocalist Burton C. BellBurton C. Bell
Burton Christopher Bell is an American musician. Bell is best known as the frontman of the metal band Fear Factory where he is the only consistent member. His singing style mixes clean vocals with death growls.-Fear Factory:...
and ex-guitarist Dino Cazares
Dino Cazares
Dino Cazares, born in El Centro, California, is a Mexican-American musician and the guitarist for Los Angeles-based industrial metal group Fear Factory. He also plays in the metal bands Divine Heresy and Asesino.-Biography:...
announced the reconciliation of their friendship, and the formation of a new project with Fear Factory bassist Byron Stroud
Byron Stroud
Byron Stroud is the bassist for metal bands Fear Factory, City of Fire and Zimmers Hole and the defunct band Strapping Young Lad.-Biography:...
and drummer Gene Hoglan
Gene Hoglan
Eugene "Gene" Victor Hoglan II is an American drummer. He is acclaimed for his creativity in drum arrangements, including usage of odd devices for percussion effects and his trademark lengthy double-kick drum rhythms...
of Strapping Young Lad
Strapping Young Lad
Strapping Young Lad was a Canadian extreme metal band formed by Devin Townsend in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1994. The band started as a one-man studio project; Townsend played most of the instruments on the 1995 debut album, Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing...
. On April 28, this project was revealed to be a new version of Fear Factory that effectively excluded former members Raymond Herrera
Raymond Herrera
Raymond Herrera is the drummer for industrial metal band Arkaea. He is a former member of the industrial metal band Fear Factory and Mexican death metal band Brujeria.-Biography:Herrera has been an avid gamer all his life...
and Christian Olde Wolbers
Christian Olde Wolbers
Christian Olde Wolbers , is the guitarist of the metal band Arkaea. He is the former bassist and guitarist of the industrial metal band Fear Factory, and is now in Beowülf.-Biography:...
. Asked about the circumstances of their exclusion, Bell stated that "[Fear Factory]'s like a business and I'm just reorganizing... We won't talk about [their exclusion]."
In June 2009, Wolbers and Herrera finally spoke about the issue on the radio program "Speed Freaks." Herrera revealed that technically, he and Wolbers had not left the band: "[Christian and I] are actually still in Fear Factory...[Burton and Dino] decided to start a new band, and furthermore, they decided to call it Fear Factory. They never communicated with us about it,". Herrera went on to say that the original four members (Bell, Cazares, Wolbers, and himself) are contractually regarded as Fear Factory Incorporated, and said "it's almost like them two against us two, so it's kind of a stalemate." He also stated that he and Wolbers had written eight songs for the next Fear Factory record, but that a "personal disagreement" had come up between them and Bell, which left Bell unwilling to continue work with the band.
Despite issues between the two parties, Fear Factory moved ahead with the recording process. In late July 2009, a short video shot with a cell phone showed Dino recording over drum tracks with long time contributor Rhys Fulber. According to recent interviews with Bell and Cazares, at least one show in South America has been announced. On November 9, 2009, album artwork for the album was revealed on blabbermouth.net
Blabbermouth.net
Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was officially launched in March 2001...
.
On February 2, 2010, the official music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for the song "Fear Campaign," was released. The song serves as the album's first formal single. The song also includes a standard guitar solo
Guitar solo
In popular music, a guitar solo is a melodic passage, section, or entire piece of music written for an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. Guitar solos, which often contain varying degrees of improvisation, are used in many styles of popular music such as blues, jazz, rock and metal styles such...
passage, something highly uncharacteristic of Fear Factory's usual standard.
The song "Final Exit
Final Exit
Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying is a controversial 1992 book by Derek Humphry, founder of the Hemlock Society in California and past president of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies....
" is a title borrowed from Derek Humphry
Derek Humphry
Derek Humphry is a British-born American journalist, author and principal founder in 1980 of the Hemlock Society USA and past president of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies, both of which support the notion of decriminalisation of voluntary euthanasia...
's 1991 book of the same name, which deals with the topic of self-chosen euthanasia.
The bonus track "Crash Test" is a re-recorded version from their 1992 debut album Soul of a New Machine
Soul of a New Machine
Soul of a New Machine is the debut studio album by the Los Angeles, California metal band Fear Factory. It was released on August 25, 1992...
. The band also re-recorded versions of "Martyr" (also from Soul of a New Machine), which is found on the Japanese edition of the album and "Sangre de Niños", which has yet to be released.
Track listing
Charts
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
Certification | Sales/ shipments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart | 24 | - | - |
| German Albums Chart | 31 | - | - |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 31 | - | - |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 46 | - | - |
| Swedish Albums Chart | 51 | - | - |
| Suisse Albums Chart | 70 | - | - |
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
72 | - | - |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 87 | - | - |
| French Albums Chart | 198 | - | - |
Personnel
- Burton C. BellBurton C. BellBurton Christopher Bell is an American musician. Bell is best known as the frontman of the metal band Fear Factory where he is the only consistent member. His singing style mixes clean vocals with death growls.-Fear Factory:...
– vocals - Dino CazaresDino CazaresDino Cazares, born in El Centro, California, is a Mexican-American musician and the guitarist for Los Angeles-based industrial metal group Fear Factory. He also plays in the metal bands Divine Heresy and Asesino.-Biography:...
– guitar - Byron StroudByron StroudByron Stroud is the bassist for metal bands Fear Factory, City of Fire and Zimmers Hole and the defunct band Strapping Young Lad.-Biography:...
– bass guitar - Gene HoglanGene HoglanEugene "Gene" Victor Hoglan II is an American drummer. He is acclaimed for his creativity in drum arrangements, including usage of odd devices for percussion effects and his trademark lengthy double-kick drum rhythms...
– drums, percussion - Rhys FulberRhys FulberNowell Rhys Fulber is a Canadian electronic musician and producer. He was a member of Front Line Assembly and Delerium along with Bill Leeb, and now records on his own under the name Conjure One.- Biography :...
– keyboards, piano on the track "Christploitation", samples, programming, mixing, producer